UK Christmas traditions...

A few years ago I was recovering from major knee surgery and wasn't up to cooking a full traditional Christmas dinner so we decided to do something completely different, a Mexican inspired Christmas. I ordered Mexican-style decorations and a Christmas pinata and we had tamales on Christmas Day instead of Christmas Eve. A tradition where I live (Texas) is to have tamales on Christmas Eve even if you're not Mexican.

We had a traditional Christmas last year but the kids have such fond memories of that Mexican Christmas that they want to explore other country's Christmas traditions every few years. My family decided to explore UK traditions this year because we had a blast visiting England and Scotland a few summers ago.

Here's our plan so far:
  • Christmas crackers
  • a Yule log in our outdoor fireplace
  • a dessert that's lit on fire. DS8 still remembers when some of our British friends bought a Christmas pudding to our Thanksgiving dinner and lit it on fire.
  • watch a Dr. Who Christmas episode.
What else should we do? I'm looking for fun suggestions.
Don't bother with Dr. Who - not a British tradition! Queen's speech is definitely traditional. The only dessert for setting on fire at Christmas (brandy poured over then lit) is a traditional Christmas fruit pudding as was brought to your Thanksgiving dinner. The original home made puddings had silver sixpenny pieces put in them for luck - unless you found one by breaking a tooth on it! Of course there are no longer any such coins in circulation so that tradition has died away aided by the fact that nowadays most people get their Christmas puddings from shops. Roast turkey for Christmas dinner - same as for your Thanksgiving. Have some family games and ignore the endless repeats on tv. Most of all just enjoy being together as a family - hope that we can this year with all that's going on with lockdowns and visiting restrictions etc.
Merry Christmas from the UK
Peter
 
As I live alone and will be spending it alone I decided I'm going to do a Hoop Dee Doo Christmas Dinner. I'm going to replicate the menu as best I can, the Strawberry Shortcake might prove difficult so I may replace that with Christmas pud.
To be honest, Christmas day is pretty much the same as every other day otherwise. The days when Christmas Day TV was special have long gone, but, Disney+ has plenty of things worth watching.
 


Have you ever tried the Birds Eye Custard served over apple pie slice?
The canister has a quick & easy way to prepare using a microwave.
Very English and love this all nice and warm.
I also have an old English Recipe for poor mans pudding ( rice pudding served warm ) And my mother always asked Santa to bring a box of Black Magic Candies.
 
Have you ever tried the Birds Eye Custard served over apple pie slice?
Yes , my grandmother used to make apple tart and serve it with Birds Custard. My grandfather used to grow the apples and then my grandmother would make apple tarts :)

I also have an old English Recipe for poor mans pudding ( rice pudding served warm )
Never heard rice pudding called this. Rice pudding is still popular, I buy it from the grocery store on a regular basis. The most popular brand is Ambrosia but there are other brands too. I just heat in the microwave.
IDShot_225x225.jpg

https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=271241772
And my mother always asked Santa to bring a box of Black Magic Candies.

My dad loved Black Magic too :) They are still onsale, I just checked

IDShot_225x225 (1).jpg
https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=285753093
 
Have you ever tried the Birds Eye Custard served over apple pie slice?
The canister has a quick & easy way to prepare using a microwave.
Very English and love this all nice and warm.
I also have an old English Recipe for poor mans pudding ( rice pudding served warm ) And my mother always asked Santa to bring a box of Black Magic Candies.
My Grandmother’s cook used to make delicious rice puddings ( you have taken me on a little trip down memory lane). It was oozing with cream, butter, cinnamon and sugar and had a thick skin on the top when it cooled.
At school we had tapioca and semolina pudding, which did a fine impersonation of liquid cement.
 
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What about Spiced Beef ...... very tasty .... eaten cold on toast & butter.

followed by Triple Choc Ice Cream

( Dunnes Stores , Super Value & Tesco )
 
My Grandmother’s cook used to make delicious rice puddings ( you have taken me on a little trip down memory lane). It was oozing with cream, butter, cinnamon and sugar and had a thick skin on the top when it cooled.
At school we had tapioca and semolina pudding, which did a fine impersonation of liquid cement.
My nan made the most fab rice pud, we'd fight over who got the skin off the top. I bet kids today would turn their nose up at it.
She also made the most wonderful cup of tea, milky and sweet, I've never been able to recreate it
 
Interesting to see the variations!

Here, definitely no sprouts! And no Yorkshire puddings (only with a beef roast)!

Just: turkey, roast potatoes, stuffing (but different from the US version), pigs in blankets (or just small cocktail sausages, but nice ones from a local butcher), very roasted parsnips, cauliflower cheese, steamed carrots. gravy, bread sauce and cranberry sauce.

Definitely crackers, with silly jokes and hats. ::yes::::yes::::yes::

The queen's speech is very British, but we never watch it! :D We always have mince pies and Christmas pudding around at Christmas, but I don't eat either! Chocolate yule log is nicer and we have sharing chocolates like Quality Street and Black Magic.

We used to have Brandy Snaps with brandy butter piped inside, but haven't had those for ages.

We usually have a more American breakfast of waffles or pancakes with fruit and maple syrup.
 
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We tend to watch some classic British comedy at Christmas, some Christmas film and always the Queen's speech.

My mum used to have every option for Christmas Day breakfast. Anything like a full English, toast and a choice of cold meats and cheese, cereal or croissants/pain au chocolat. The latter was usually chosen but over the years my mum likes to get those Brioche trees you can rip apart.

50/50 if we will have breakfast first or presents. My sister always wants presents first and as is tradition make a massive fuss until we open presents. Nowerdays we usually have breakfast first. Most of the time the family pet gets to open their present first as there are no children in our family and a big fuss is made of them.

The main event dinner would be 1-2 homemade soups (my sister is very fussy so my mum will either make 1 or 2 kinds of soup from scratch and defrost for the day) with those lovely heated rolls with butter in special Christmas dishes (also have naff cute Santa salt and pepper cellar). Table will have nice cloth, candles and some holly somewhere. Main course at the most (she used to do extra sauces and veg) is usually turkey with roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, roasted pastnips, carrots, sprouts, stuffing (baked in the oven), gravy and cranberry sauce and a yorkshire pudding if not forgotten. Pudding used to be Christmas pud with icecream or cake but in recent years we have gotten the Chocolate Pinecones from M&S which my sister goes mad for. I have recently gotten a taste for Christmas pud so we will often have that too and maybe some Christmas cake later in the evening. Games are played in the evening with a movie on, chocolates and snacks such as cheese and crackers are often had. Crackers and paper hats MUST be worn.

26th December - My Birthday! Usually my choice of breakfast, gifts to be had and my mum will usually cook some pork dish or turkey curry. Walk is usually pushed upon us and my birthday is usually the most likely day it happens along with watching a daft movie later on. Might get more visitors and there is usually a sponsored boxing day dip which we may watch if I get up early enough.

Now that I am married and we had a rare Christmas together alone thanks to Boris cancelling Christmas, my husband made homemade treacle tart served with clotted cream ice cream. Also love minced pies as an adult as I hated them as a kid!!!
 
I find it so interesting reading everyone's UK and Ireland traditions.
It's just me and my partner at present in our home.

I'll admit I go mad with Christmas decorating and usually put both our trees up (living room and conservatory) mid November as I'm too excited and make a whole day of wearing a Christmas themed t-shirt, put Christmas songs on and slowly decorate the whole house, garden and trees. I also put my Christmas bedding on haha.

We also have a Christmas film countdown list that begins on the 1st Dec until 26th.

Christmas Eve
I'll make us up a small Christmas eve box (big kids here, 30 years old 😂) with matching, yes matching pj's, sachets of hot chocolate, a Christmas bath bomb for me, some candy canes and we'll watch our second to last Christmas film we have on our list. Before going to bed, we fill each others stocking we have hanging on the stairs with little things that normally cost about a fiver (I.e bath bombs, smellies, chocolate orange, poundland joke gift etc).
Finally once my partner is upstairs, I'll bring the presents down and put them under the main tree for us to open in the morning.

Christmas Day
This has varied the past couple of years but we seem now to have one Christmas at my partners parents, the next year at his sisters then the following at ours (always the same 6 people 😀).
We wake up whenever we're ready and usually I'll start to head downstairs first and shout HE'S BEEN!
The Christmas music channel gets puts on and we start opening our presents that family and friends will have dropped off in the run up then open ours to each other at the end. We then either lounge around if it's not at ours or if so, it's all guns ablazing.
If at ours, we always go mad with the amount of food I cook as if I'm feeding the 5000.
It'll consist of:
Turkey and ham
Pigs in blankets
Stuffing
parsnips with honey
Sprouts
Cauliflower and broccoli cheese
Roast potatoes
Mash potatoes
Yorkshire puddings
Bread sauce and Cranberry sauce

The table will then get set and I'll put the crackers down as well as a table present (usually a scratch card) ready for dinner.
Once we've finished, we usually play a game or two at the table then have either yule log or mince pies which like everyone else seems to end the night, stuffed and slowly dozing in front of the TV whe trying to stay awake for our Christmas film.

Boxing Day
As mad as this sounds, I've has enough of the Christmas decorations at this point (I think because they've usually been up about 6 weeks) so I take everything down, put our final Christmas film on then relax with a takeaway 😅
 
A couple of years prior I was recuperating from significant knee medical procedure and wasn't up to cooking a full customary Christmas supper so we chose to accomplish something totally unique, a Mexican enlivened Christmas. I requested Mexican-style improvements and a Christmas pinata and we had tamales on Christmas Day rather than Christmas Eve. A practice where I reside (Texas) is to have tamales on Christmas Eve regardless of whether you're not Mexican.

We had a customary Christmas last year however the children have such affectionate recollections of that Mexican Christmas that they need to investigate other country's Christmas customs like clockwork. My family chosen to investigate UK customs this year since we had a fabulous time visiting England and Scotland a couple of summers prior.

Here is our arrangement up until this point:
Christmas saltines
a Yule sign in our open air chimney
a pastry that is gotten on fire going. DS8 actually recollects when a portion of our British companions purchased a Christmas pudding to our Thanksgiving supper and lit it ablaze.
watch a Dr. Who Christmas episode.
 
A couple of years prior I was recuperating from significant knee medical procedure and wasn't up to cooking a full customary Christmas supper so we chose to accomplish something totally unique, a Mexican enlivened Christmas. I requested Mexican-style improvements and a Christmas pinata and we had tamales on Christmas Day rather than Christmas Eve. A practice where I reside (Texas) is to have tamales on Christmas Eve regardless of whether you're not Mexican.

We had a customary Christmas last year however the children have such affectionate recollections of that Mexican Christmas that they need to investigate other country's Christmas customs like clockwork. My family chosen to investigate UK customs this year since we had a fabulous time visiting England and Scotland a couple of summers prior.

Here is our arrangement up until this point:
Christmas saltines
a Yule sign in our open air chimney
a pastry that is gotten on fire going. DS8 actually recollects when a portion of our British companions purchased a Christmas pudding to our Thanksgiving supper and lit it ablaze.
watch a Dr. Who Christmas episode.

other than watching a Dr. Who Christmas episode, none of that is really what happens in the UK.. Read back my posts in this thread for what a UK / Irish Chritsmas is really like.

A Christmas Pudding that is set on fire not a pastry. Its a steamed / boiled type of pound cake, made with dried fruit like raisons and sultanas, and apples, oranges and almonds. Its a very heavy type of cake which gets this shape from being cooked in a pudding bowl.

When it is being served, before it is cut , you pour neat brandy onto and then set it on fire.

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Christmas Pudding Recipe

For the pudding
  • 450g/1lb dried mixed fruit (use a mixture of sultanas, raisins, and snipped apricots)
  • 1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
  • 1 orange, finely grated rind and juice
  • 3 tbsp brandy, sherry, or rum, plus extra for flaming
  • 75g/3oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 100g/3½oz light muscovado sugar
  • 2 free-range eggs
  • 100g/4oz self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 40g/1½oz fresh white breadcrumbs
  • 40g/1½oz whole shelled almonds, roughly chopped
For the brandy butter
  • 100g/3½oz unsalted butter, softened
  • 225g/8oz icing sugar, sieved
  • 3 tbsp brandy, rum or cognac
To serve
  • 4 tbsp brandy or rum
Method
  1. Measure the sultanas, raisins, apricots and apple into a bowl with the orange juice. Add the measured brandy (rum or sherry), stir and leave to marinate for about one hour.
  2. Put the measured butter, sugar and grated orange rind into a large bowl and cream together with a wooden spoon or a hand-held whisk until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little of the measured flour if the mixture starts to curdle.
  3. Sift together the flour and mixed spice, then fold into the creamed mixture with the breadcrumbs and the nuts. Add the soaked dried fruits with their soaking liquid and stir well.
  4. Generously butter a 1.4 litre/2½ pint pudding basin. Cut a small disc of foil or baking parchment and press into the base of the basin.
  5. Spoon into the prepared pudding basin and press the mixture down with the back of a spoon. Cover the pudding with a layer of baking parchment paper and foil, both pleated across the middle to allow for expansion. Tie securely with string and trim off excess paper and foil with scissors.
  6. To steam, put the pudding in the top of a steamer filled with simmering water, cover with a lid and steam for eight hours, topping up the water as necessary.
  7. To boil the pudding, put a metal jam jar lid, or metal pan lid, into the base of a large pan to act as a trivet. Place a long, doubled strip of foil in the pan, between the trivet and the pudding basin, ensuring the ends of the strip reach up and hang over the edges of the pan. This will help you to lift the heavy pudding basin out of the pan of hot water when it has finished cooking.
  8. Lower the pudding onto the trivet and pour in enough boiling water to come half way up the side of the bowl. Cover with a lid, bring the water back to the boil, then simmer for about seven hours, until the pudding is a glorious deep brown colour, topping up the water as necessary.
  9. For the brandy butter, place the butter into a mixing bowl and cream with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy – or for speed use an electric hand-held mixer. Beat in the sieved icing sugar until smooth, then add brandy, rum or cognac, to taste. Spoon into a serving dish, cover and set aside in the fridge.
  10. When cooked through, remove the pudding from the pan and cool completely. Discard the paper and foil and replace with fresh. Store in a cool, dry place.
  11. To serve, on Christmas Day, steam or boil the pudding for about two hours to reheat. Turn the pudding onto a serving plate. To flame, warm the brandy or rum in a small pan, pour it over the hot pudding and set light to it. Serve with brandy butter.
 
Oh, they're crackers. Is it a joke or a genuine misconception? I find it hard to tell in the internet. Christmas crackers are cardboard tubes, covered in paper, containing a snap (gunpowder on two ends of paper that make a bang from the friction when pulled apart), a paper crown and a small gift. Not the type of crackers you eat (though we do have some of those (unsalted) with cheese on - but that's not exclusively at Christmas).

Have a lovely British Christmas!
 

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